Calling all quilters and sewists of all levels and talents!!! A section of the historic town Ocean Grove, NJ was devastated by a large fire last Thursday morning, displacing 42 families. Many of our members live in this area, and our own Deb Hathaway Hunter has organized a quilt drive to support those displaced by this massive blaze. Members of The JSMQG are in the process of feverishly sewing quilts to wrap the fire victims in warmth and love. We need your HELP please! Deb H is  accepting donations of pieced blocks and tops, completed quilts, batting, and cotton fabric. If you don’t sew, but would like to help in some way… please consider donating funds to support this effort. For contact info or to donate, please email Deb at deb(at)uniqueandnovel(dot)com. Thank you!

A busy month for JSMQG as we prepared for Quiltfest! Make sure to come by and say hello if you are going to be there this weekend – we have a table, demos, a mini quilt display, and a guild show! We had piles of amazing minis – check out our instagram (@jsmqg)  for closeups! June brought her grey scale mini-in-progress, Deb L showed off her linear mini, Bonnie brought her log cabin inspired mini, and Brandy finished her not-so mini “Modern Crossed” quilt (it is on display as part of our guild show at Quiltfest!)

We had two great tutorials this month too – Phyllis gave a wonderful presentation on quilt labeling options (and the importance of labeling every quilt!) – she showed us embroidery methods, permanent markers that work well on fabric, and printable fabric options. June discussed how (unfortunately)  common quilt theft is and reminded us to use a permanent labeling technique for quilts that we submit to any show – for example, Natalie mentioned that while embroidery is pretty, the stitches can be picked out after it is stolen to obscure its origins. Phyllis showed us the various commercial options available for printing labels onto fabric, such as June Tailor’s line and Dritz’s options. Natalie explained how she fuses quilting cotton to freezer paper so that she can run it through a home printer. A tutorial on this technique can be found here. Don’t forget you can also design and order yardage of custom labels from sources like spoonflower and etsy. One labeling “compromise” that was discussed was writing your information in permanent fabric marker on the quilt back, then sewing over it with your embroidered or pieced label. The “gold standard” seemed to be piecing the label into the actual back of your quilt, so that removing it would be both difficult and very obvious.

Next up was June, providing a much needed tutorial on how to make a proper hanging sleeve for a quilt in preparation for Quiltfest NJ. She showed us how to incorporate a pleat into our sleeves so that regardless of the hanging rods a particular show uses, the sleeve has enough give to hang both smooth and straight, while also being the 4″ completed width most shows require. A video tutorial similar to the technique June described can be found here.

On to the show and tell! Lots of lovely quilts this month. Sherre brought in a cute “bug” quilt she made with her new embroidery machine, made for her daughter since the heat in her VW Bug isn’t always the most reliable. 🙂 Brandy brought her gorgeous finished “Winged Supernova” quilt – made using the Supernova tutorial you can find in our member resources!

Hope to see you at Quiltfest – come find us for lots more info about our little guild!

Best in show this year was this amazing quilt “Bling” both pieced and quilted by Katherine Jones – this piece was created by taking a digital picture of a princess cut diamond and using that to create a foundation paper pieced pattern, then pieced in a range of solids. It’s amazing! You can find Katherine on IG as @twocatquilts

Best Improv Piecing went to Kim Soper for her “Lincoln” quilt – she goes into detail on her process and inspiration on her blog. She based this quilt on an Indonesian style of pop-art called WPAP – specifically a portrait of Abraham Lincoln by  Ihsan Ekaputra This one also won Viewer’s Choice!

First place in minimalist design went to Susan Kyle – I love her story behind this piece, “Wax and Wane”. It is made from the cotton they use to pull off wax at salons!

Susan Clay won first place in the Michael Miller Luxe Challenge that many of us participated in, with her piece “Luxe Modern “.

“Ode to Yashiko” by Marilyn Farquhar won first place for piecing – if you look closely you can see the amazing geometric piecing behind what looks like an abstract, random design.

First place in Applique went to “Inside Out” by Susan Bleiweiss. This piece was made with fused raw edge applique.

Judges Choice was “Selt Portrait in T”, made by Hillary Goodwin from her old worn out t-shirts, and quilted to emphasize dimension.

This one, by Katie Larson, is so much fun! She won first place in the small quilts category.

And look at this proud Mama and her daughter, Lilyanna Kenhle , who won first place in the youth division with “Gemstones”. Start ’em young!

I loved seeing this group quilt, Organic Mid Century Mod,  in all of its completed glory. It was a progressive quilt made at MidAtlantic Mod last year right next to our table – I loved hearing all the discussions and debate as every quilter took their turn to add or modify the finished product. The progressive quilts are raffled off to one of the creators at the end of the retreat, and Laura Bennett @drlbennett of CJMQG was lucky enough to take this beauty home. She finished quilting it at the CJMQG fall retreat I attend every year – a VERY well deserved ribbon indeed!

Politically charged quilts may not appeal to everyone, but I find them fascinating and compelling when done right. “Tea and Skittles” by Thomas Knauer is such a powerful piece – the quilting is text from Trayvon Martin’s memorial service. Did you know Tom is one of our own, an Asbury Park native? He even designed a whole fabric line inspired by the city by the sea, entitled “Asbury“, a few years ago!

There were some fantastic text quilts this year – I loved these two in particular, “Cursive” by Paige Alexander and “Make More Quilts” by Cathy Fussell.

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Now we just need Deb H to give us a report from the field! Deb? Any other quilts from QuiltCon East that caught your eye? Share in the comments below!

Here’s how to play along – you’ll need to dowload the Klikaklu app from the App store (no android version available 😦

Once the menu open, click “sign up”. It will ask you for the year you were born, then ask you to make a username, password, and submit your email address – so they can contact you if you win one of the (totally NOT virtual) quiltcon swag bags! MQG reccomends using your instagram handle as your username if you have one.

After you submit your info, you will see two options, “play a hunt” and “create a hunt”. Choose “Play a Hunt” – at this point you need to scan the QR code from the “digital goodie bag” email we received – this was a little tricky for me in that I needed to open my email on my tablet so I could scan the QR code with my phone, but it worked. To make your life easier, I’ve put the QR code here on our page. After that, click “continue” to go through the screeens till you get to the list of open clues. Start clicking on clues to start playing – more clues become available as you answer others!

Example: So, I clicked on the clue labeled “shopping”. It asked me to take a picture of my most recent quilty purchase. I took a picture of a rug I’m hooking (since it was the closest fabric related item on my desk, lol) and got a badge that says “You’ve completed the first clue. Only 12 more to go” The point of completing 12 is to be entered into the drawing for a real-life swag bag. Let me know if you have any other questions and I hope this helps!

At our last meeting, our own June Mellinger (A 20 year veteran of Brother Sewing!) let us know that MQG and KS productions have collaborated to create a new tv series all about modern quilting, with Brother as a sponsor of course 🙂

Just in time for QuiltCon East, the show went live today! Check it out here – you can watch the first episode on Vimeo and it will also be airing on public television – channel listing is on their website. The first episode includes a lesson on choosing free motion quilting designs by Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps, Allison Evans and Heather Grant discussing ways to organize charity quilting projects online and Jacquie Gering showing the variations that can be achieved with walking foot quilting. Already watched Episode 1? The discussion continues below in the comments section!

From the producers:

“Fresh Quilting, the new public television show co-produced by the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) and KS Productions, will air in February 2017 with an all-star lineup of modern designers and quilters. In this new series, innovative modern quilters reinterpret traditional techniques with a fresh, modern aesthetic.

In each episode, leading designers give a fresh twist on traditional designs and share quilting techniques to create high-impact quilts. By watching the show, viewers will learn design concepts and techniques they can use to create their own compelling modern quilt designs. Each episode also includes a segment on community sewing with tips from MQG members and leaders.”.

Rebecca’s Reel is looking for a few more quilters to round out their QuiltWeek bus trip to Lancaster, PA – the trip is March 30th, and the cost is $50, which includes admission to the show. Bus leaves from Poricy Park in Middletown at 7 am, and should be back by 9 pm. Remember to drop our name on that long ride to recruit some new members 😉 For more info, see the pdf below. Must register by March 10th!

lancaster-bus-trip

Apologies for the delay – your loyal webmistress was down and out with a stomach bug at the last meeting, so it took me a bit to get all the pictures from our last meeting. Without further ado, onto the the parade o’ quilts!

Eileen D. brought in her completed Minecraft Quilt as well as her modern take on a Christmas Tree Quilt for the holidays….

Michelle stunned us, as always, with her gorgeous work – this time a wedding ring quilt in yellow and blue…

Deb H brought in her epic star quilt…

Kat showed off her mind bending maze quilt – love the optical illusion it creates!

Bonnie B brought her rainbow quilt to share…

Diane showed off her “Stretched Hexies” Quilt

Phyllis showed off the her eye catching mod flower quilt top…

Sherre brought in her finished “Patchwork City” quilt…

And Deb L showed off her finished Circles quilt!

If I missed any designers or patterns used, or if your quilt has a special name, leave me a comment below and I will make sure to add that into our January show and tell. Thank you1 -Your webmistress, Shannon

Hey JSMQG! Looking to jump on the fabric challenge bandwagon? This looks like a fun one and it’s not due (digitally) till September 12, 2017, which means it would be an awesome summer project! You need to create a contemporary style quilt using only the bella solids in the picture above. All colors must be used somewhere on the quilt – this can be either the front or the pack though – any style of piecing, quilting, applique, or embellishment goes. Fat Quarter bundles are available from most of the major online fabric shops – I will see if Pennington is carrying them and update as I find out. Here are the colors you must use and the rules and relevant links:

1. Bella Solids Black (9900-99)
2. Bella Solids Lead (9900-283)
3. Bella Solids Silver (9900-183)
4. Bella Solids Yellow (9900-24)
5. Bella Solids Graphite (9900-202)
6. Bella Solids Summerhouse Lime (9900-173)
7. Bella Solids Purple (9900-21)
8. Bella Solids Smoke (9900-316)
9. Bella Solids Mango (9900-222)
10. Bella Solids Amelia Blue (9900-167)
11. Bella Solids Betty’s Red (9900-123)
12. Bella Solids White Bleached (9900-98)

•  Any type of piecing, quilting, embroidery can be used.
• Quilts must measure 72″ x 90″
• Quilts must be an original design.
• Quilts must be quilted! No quilt tops will be accepted.
• Quilt must be labelled with the creator’s name, city and contact info.
• The 3 winning quilts will become property of Moda Fabrics.
• No limit to the number of entries, and International entries are accepted too!

Update as of 02/08/2017

As per Moda, all 12 colours must be used, but they don’t all have to be on the front of the quilt!That’s great news to hear, as it should open up the possibilities a bit 🙂

Prizes:

• 1st Place: $5,000
• 2nd Place: $3,000
• 3rd Place: $2,000

Moda will be contacting the winners on October 20th! The winning quilts will be on display at the Moda booth during Fall Quilt Market 2017!

How can I apply?

Head over to the Moda blog for full contest rules and details, as well as the application by clicking here.

Inspired by our trip to the Lancaster MQG’s first quilt bazzar, we are having a mini quilt raffle as our first quilt raffle fundraiser! Our members are creating gorgeous mini works of art, which will all be on display at Quiltfest NJ this March!

Hey all, Shannon here, your webmistress for 2017! Current members: don’t forget your dues for this year – feel free to give them to Sherre or I at our next sew in or monthly meeting. We are preparing for The Quilt and Sewing Fest in Somerset, NJ, where we will be tabling, hopefully recruiting some new members, and showing off the artistry of our guild in our JSMQG exhibit. Mark your calenders, March 2nd – 5th!

Pics of all of this month’s awesome show and tell will be up shortly!

ATTENTION!!!

Please take note of change of venue for our June meeting.

June 15th… 7pm to 9pm

Colts Neck Reformed Church

72 County Rd 537 West

Colts Neck, NJ

(where we hold our Sew-Ins)